Armed robbers struck the State Fair craft beer exhibit after hours late last week, tying up two victims and fleeing with at least $10,000 and possibly several times that amount.
The robbery at the Agriculture Horticulture Building's craft beer exhibit was reported at 11:15 p.m. Friday to State Fair police dispatch, said police spokeswoman Brooke Blakey. No arrests have been made.
Both victims at the exhibit were bound by the robbers, she said. She added that several suspects were being pursued, but police had yet to release any descriptions.
The perpetrators struck after the exhibit's closing time of 9 p.m., Blakey said.
"[Police] don't have a concrete figure, but [it was] $10,000-plus," she said.
A St. Paul family said it was stopped by officers who briefly suspected a man and his teenage son in that household of the crime. A St. Paul officer returned Tuesday night to apologize, the man's wife said, and revealed that police were looking for roughly $60,000.
Asked Wednesday afternoon about the robbery netting as much as $60,000, Blakey said she had yet to receive "a firm number. But yes, a large amount was taken."
This was the third year at the fair for the beer exhibit, which was put on by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. Along with selling beer at the fair, the exhibit also detailed the brewing process from farm to mug.
